Monday, August 29, 2011

The Morin Khuur Part 4.

I've never pretended to be a master carver! Most of the historical fiddles I researched had fairly rustic looking heads. This has aspects of horses, dogs, and dragons depending on how the light strikes it. I'll finish cleaning it up some more prior to applying finish. The aperture for installing strings is reversed from that on violin-family instruments. They're accessable through the back of the head.

I forgot to take a picture of the head-to-neck joinery so I made a little drawing. I cut a landing on the back side of the neck, parallel to the fingerboard, 3/4" long, and a matching mortise in the head. It was a decent fit. (I had fun pushing a chisel through that hard maple). A couple of pegs secure the joint from either side.